


several more appendages than usual

by lynne_monstr



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Loss of Control, M/M, Minor Angst, Sappy Ending, Tentacles, Tentacletober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-10 16:44:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20855006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynne_monstr/pseuds/lynne_monstr
Summary: Magnus is halfway across the room, pillow clutched to his chest, when Alec’s voice stops him in his tracks.“Where are you going?”(Or, Magnus doesn't do well when he's not in control. That includes having tentacles that don't always obey his wishes.)





	several more appendages than usual

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Tentacletober Day 1: Tentacle Cuddles

Magnus is halfway across the room, pillow clutched to his chest, when Alec’s voice stops him in his tracks.

“Where are you going?”

_Busted._ Not that Magnus is surprised. Not really. Alec’s senses are honed to an edge every bit as sharp as the tips of his arrows, and while there’s no danger here in their bedroom, some instincts aren’t so easily turned off.

Magnus’ shoulders slump and only centuries of ironclad control keeps him from wincing at the extra weight on his back that shifts with him. None of the strain shows in his voice when he answers, “Couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d try the couch.”

It’s not really a lie. He can’t sleep and he _does_ think the couch will help. It’s just…well, it’s not the whole truth, either.

“Magnus,” Alec sits up, a dark silhouette with messy hair. He sees right though Magnus, the way he always does. It’s both comforting and terrifying in equal measure. There’s so much in that one word, so much love and longing and comfort wrapped up in the way he says Magnus’ name. Magnus could live a thousand lifetimes hearing it and never get over the way it makes his heart stutter.

Is it any wonder he takes a step back towards the bed, drawn towards the sheer warmth of Alec’s affection? Magnus is a strong man—he has to be in order to survive this long—but the walls around his heart are no match for Alec’s devotion. He takes one step and then another, until halfway to the bed he finally wrests control back from his traitorous heart.

It’s control that’s the problem here, the reason’s he’s fleeing their bedroom with nothing but a pillow. Well, with _almost_ nothing but a pillow.

“Is this about the…” Alec trails off, the dark shadow of his arm gesturing towards Magnus. Rather, to the extra appendages Magnus is currently sporting. “…The tentacles?” Alec says, like he’s still tasting the strange word on his tongue. “I told you already, I don’t mind them. Come back to bed.”

A careless wave towards the bedside lamp suffuses the room in a soft glow. Magnus regrets it the moment he can clearly see Alec, rumpled and adorable in their bed. His boyfriend’s face is creased from sleep and his fingers clench around the silk sheets at his chest. The couch seems cold and lonely in comparison.

Magnus grips his pillow tighter. “I can’t control them.” It hurts to admit but Alec deserves to hear the truth.

As if on cue, the mass of tentacles at his back flares up around him, restless and wanting. It’s his own desire to touch Alec, reflected and augmented by this particular brand of magic. The chilly night air isn't helping. The urge to seek refuge under the covers is strong, to hold Alec and be held in return. Except now his embrace consists of several more appendages than usual.

Alec shakes his head, patting the empty space next to him “I don’t care.”

“It’s only for a little while. Until things are back to normal.” The tightness in his chest is back. It isn’t possible to love this man any more than he already does, but somehow Magnus manages it. Which is why he forces himself towards the door, inch by painful inch.

As much as he isn’t thrilled about his current situation, he doesn’t regret stepping in front of the spell that did this to him. A warlock under his tutelage had lost control of his magic, what else was there to do but shield him from it? It was simple enough to use his own power to divert the spell into something harmless, but it was hardly something a novice was capable of doing.

Magnus would do it again without hesitation. It was his duty as a mentor to protect his students from their own mistakes, even when those mistakes were made because an overeager young warlock overestimated his abilities and attempted a dangerous ritual behind his teacher’s back. It was pure luck Magnus had been tuned into the ebb and flow of the city's magic deeply enough to recognize the danger when he did. He could only hope that watching another bear the brunt of his poor judgement would be enough for young Luis to learn his lesson.

For now, Magnus hovers in the doorway of his bedroom. “You'll have me all to yourself soon enough, Alexander. Another week and the tide will be high enough that I can perform the counter spell.”

His tentacles wrap tight around his own chest at the proclamation, and Magnus feels the first stirrings of guilt. Which is ridiculous. It’s his body and his magic to do with as he pleases. The tentacles are a manifestation of Magnus himself, it’s foolish to feel guilty for wanting to be rid of them.

The tentacles only hold onto him tighter.

A muffled laugh escapes Alec’s lips. “Maybe they don’t like me best after all.”

Magnus nearly stumbles at the speed his tentacles surge towards Alec. He catches himself on the edge of the door frame, glaring at the writhing mass straining towards the bed. Looking up, his gaze catches on Alec. There’s no edge of revulsion in the curl of his lips, no flinching away from the eager hoard of tentacles reaching out for him. He looks at Magnus the way he always does, like there’s no one but the two of them in the entire world.

The brittle strain in Magnus’ ribcage eases. Maybe this won’t be the disaster he feared when he first woke up and saw his tentacles wrapped around Alec from head to toe. He’d been terrified in that moment, afraid he had somehow hurt Alec with no awareness on his part. It had been centuries since he’d lost control of anything but a minor glamour, and he hated the feeling of helplessness that rose up in his throat. He was Magnus Bane. Helplessness was something that happened to other people.

Except now he can’t even control his own body.

He presses his lips together, and takes a tentative step forward. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” It’s as close to asking as he can bring himself to get.

Alec just rolls his eyes. “No such thing,” he says, his voice pitched in that way he does when he’s trying to imitate Magnus.

Magnus straightens his shoulders. “I don’t sound like that!”

“Yes you do.” Alec pats the empty bed once more. “Now get in here before I have to get my stele and convince you the hard way.”

It’s like a dam breaking. Magnus practically pounces on him, but Alec is ready, rolling with their momentum so that he comes up on top, straddling Magnus’ hips. Magnus doesn’t fight as his wrists are pinned to the bed. Alec’s weight on him is grounding, reassuring.

Magnus looks up at him and winks. "Maybe I want the hard way."

"Next time," Alec promises, and closes the distance between their lips. The kiss is soft rather than heated and ends with their foreheads pressed together.

Closer, he needs to be closer. Magnus' arms are pinned but that doesn’t stop his tentacles. They wrap around every inch of Alec, around his chest and his stomach, his arms and his thighs. They pull Alec down, pull him to Magnus and wind around them both until neither of them can move.

The familiar dread is a poison seeping through the cracks of Magnus’ contentment. But this time it’s stopped in its tracks at the soft, contented laugh that vibrates in Alec’s chest. “Mmm, this is nice. Maybe you should keep them.”

They can’t move very much, wrapped up together as they are, but Alec manages to lean forward just enough to brush a kiss against Magnus’ chin. He follows it up with another to one of the tentacles.

Magnus melts under his touch. “Maybe I should.”

He strains against the constraining hold of the tentacles, aching to hold Alec in his arms. Just like that, the tentacles shift, loosening their hold just enough so that Magnus can free his hands and run fingers down Alec’s back. Alec, who sighs into his neck and arches his back for more.

The last of the tension drains away. Alec isn’t upset or afraid. He should probably be annoyed at being made into a Nephilim cocoon but he seems content to lay pressed against Magnus in a tangle of limbs and tentacles. If anything, he shuffles closer as sleep pulls him under, his hand reaching for one of the many tentacles and pulling it towards his chest.

Alec isn’t repulsed and a little voice in the back of Magnus’ head, small but growing, insists that he never will be. Not for the first time, Magnus begins to believe it.

This time when he drifts off to sleep, it’s without fear or worry.


End file.
